The remaining stock of this straight rye is currently being stored in stainless steel tanks to keep the whiskey from aging any further. Although technically the taste should not change from year to year, John Hansell of Malt Advocate says the taste profile changed somewhat after this 2005 release.

Huh. Well, normally I'm over the moon about this stuff. But this bottling came along in a blind tasting, and I wrote the following impression: "Decent, and I'll drink lots of it without complaint at any party. B." Well, I'm not sure if it's just that I like the later bottlings more, or if I just don't enjoy this as much without all the hype and expectation. Well, I gotta stick to the truth, so here it is. Time to retaste the '07 and '08 and post the notes on those... sometime....

The nose opens with maple syrup followed by strong rye spice, tobacco, cloves and vanilla. The palate starts sweet, then brings in rye, oak, wood and leather. The flavors are a bit diluted but still delicious. The finish is a great balance of sweetness and rye spice.

A fabulous rye; its only flaw is having a slightly diluted element to the flavor (probably due to the low proof).

Typical Sazerac nose and palate. Perhaps a little more vanilla than usual on the nose. The palate is a little bitter and leaves some after-taste I don't appreciate it. Going off memory, very much like the 2006 offering, but I think the additional oxygen in the stainless helped the '06 (if it was that or I believe these might have been from different barrels than the '05). If I get a chance would like to do a side-by-side. [12/13/13]